Hi there,

I am a French citizen and got a H1B visa in 2003.
My fiancee previously married an American citizen
and got a green card. She divorced in 2000.
She has an I-751 application pending with the
USCIS to remove the conditions of residence on
her green card. But since she has had a green card
for 5 years now, she is applying for citizenship.

Now we would like to get married and I have a few
questions about the impacts this could have.

1.a Will it have a negative impact on her applications
(I-751 and citizenship) if she gets married?
Since I am French, USCIS could say "go live in France".
1.b She does have to notify the INS of her change
of status, doesn't she?
1.c She has been waiting for news on her I-751
application for 2 years now. Is there a way to
get information on its status without "upsetting"
the administration?

2.a Will it have a negative impact on my application
if/when I need to renew my H1B in 2006?
2.b Would it make sense that I start applying for
a green card myself now?

Thank you very much for your advice.

To answer your questions

1a. Your marrying now normally should not have any effect on your fiancée’s pending applications.

1b. If you marry, your fiancée doesn’t have to inform the USCIS of her new marital status.

1c. Check the I-751 processing times (they’re available on the USCIS site) to see what cases are currently being processed. If cases with her filing date have already been processed, then she or her attorney should contact the USCIS to check on the status of her case. I-751 petitions are low priority applications and aren’t processed too quickly. Also, presuming that your fiancée requested a waiver of the joint filing requirement, it’s likely that she’ll be called in for an interview.

2a. Your marrying a resident will have no effect on an H-1B renewal. An H-1B visa is a dual intent visa, meaning that you are still eligible for the visa even if you intend to pursue a green card application (through marriage, work, etc.)

2b. Presuming that you’re referring to an employment-based green card application, you definitely can begin the process now.

Attorney Edward Weiner
http://www.immigration-aux-usa.com/